Royal Rumble (1997)
Royal Rumble (1997) was the tenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 19, 1997 from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The main event was between Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship. The main matches on the undercard were the Royal Rumble match, which Stone Cold Steve Austin won after last eliminating Bret Hart, Vader versus The Undertaker, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley versus Goldust for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Background The feud between Goldust and Hunter Hearst Helmsley centered around Goldust's manager, Marlena. During the free broadcast prior to In Your House 12, Helmsley attempted to seduce Marlena. Goldust responded by attacking Helmsley during matches in the following weeks. The feud escalated on the December 30, 1996 episode of Monday Night RAW during a match between Goldust and Jerry Lawler. Helmsley came to the ring and tried to carry Marlena away. Marc Mero, who had dropped the WWF Intercontinental Championship to Helmsley, blocked Helmsley's path, but the distraction was enough to cause Goldust to be counted out. On July 22, 1996, Faarooq Asad (later Faarooq) made his WWF debut by attacking Ahmed Johnson, the Intercontinental champion. He claimed that he attacked Johnson because Johnson was not "from the streets", as Faarooq claimed to be. Soon after the attack, Johnson was diagnosed with a legitimate kidney problem, so the WWF claimed that Faarooq's attack had hospitalized Johnson. Johnson was unable to compete for several months and was forced to vacate the Intercontinental Championship. When Johnson returned to the WWF, he interfered in several matches involving Faarooq's stable, the Nation of Domination. He attacked them with a two-by-four, which led to an angle in which Johnson was suspended for the attacks. By December, Johnson's injury had recovered sufficiently to allow him to resume wrestling, and a match was scheduled for the next pay-per-view, the Royal Rumble. Vader and The Undertaker did not have a substantial buildup to their match at Royal Rumble 1997. Vader had joined other heel wrestlers to attack The Undertaker on several occasions, but there was no major storyline behind their match. The Undertaker had been involved in a feud with Paul Bearer that dated back to SummerSlam 1996, when Bearer had turned on The Undertaker. On the January 5, 1997 episode of WWF Superstars, The Undertaker attacked Vader's manager, Jim Cornette, leaving Vader without a manager at the Royal Rumble. The feud between Sycho Sid and Shawn Michaels dated back to 1995. The storyline saw Michaels hire Sid to be in his corner during the Michaels vs. Diesel main event at WrestleMania XI. Sid interfered in the match by distracting the referee, but the plan backfired when the referee was unable to count the pinfall after Michaels superkicked Diesel. On the following night's episode of Monday Night RAW, Michaels told Sid that he would not be needed in the case of a Michaels vs. Diesel rematch. Sid responded by turning on Michaels and powerbombing him three times. This attack led to a feud between Sid and Diesel, but Sid and Michaels were reunited as partners in an elimination match at Survivor Series 1995. During the match, Michaels accidentally kicked Sid in the face, which led to Sid being eliminated. Sid retaliated by powerbombing Michaels again. Once again, the feud was not developed, as Sid left the WWF. Sid returned to the WWF on the July 8, 1996 episode of Monday Night RAW when Michaels introduced him as a partner in a six-man match at In Your House 9. Sid helped Michaels several times in the coming months by saving him from attacks by other wrestlers. At In Your House 11, Sid defeated Vader to win a WWF Championship match against Michaels at Survivor Series 1996. During the match at Survivor Series, Sid attacked Jose Lothario, Michaels' manager, with a television camera. While Michaels was distracted, Sid hit him with the camera and powerbombed him to win the title. A rematch was later booked for Royal Rumble 1997. Event The first match that aired was an Intercontinental Championship match between Goldust and the champion, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Before the match began, Goldust attacked Helmsley up the aisle, but they then returned to the ring where they continued to brawl back and forth. Later into the match, Helmsley would attempt to hit Goldust with the Intercontinental Championship belt, however, Goldust countered and grabbed the belt and hit Helmsley with it, and as Goldust attempted to pin Helmsley, Mr. Hughes, who was at ringside as bodyguard for Helmsley, pulled Helmsley out of the ring. Hughes then continued his distraction on Goldust, which led to Helmsley deliviring a Pedigree and pinning Goldust for the win, thus Helmsley retained the Intercontinental Championship. The next match was the encounter of Faarooq and Ahmed Johnson. Johnson won the match after members of the Nation of Domination, who were at ringside, interfered on Faarooq's behalf. The third match was the encounter of The Undertaker and Vader. Undertaker gained control early into the match, however, Vader gained control after Paul Bearer, who was at ringside in Vader's corner, hit Undertaker with an urn. The Undertaker did not retaliate, as Vader hit a Vaderbomb on him, which gained a successful pinfall for the win. The next match was a six-man tag team match between the team of Héctor Garza, Perro Aguayo, and El Canek against the team of Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal, and Fuerza Guerrera. A slow paced match between the two teams, as they exchange control of the match back and forth. Late into the match, the two teams brawled outside of the ring, as Aguayo hit Metal with a diving double foot stomp off the top rope, which gained a successful pinfall, thus Garza, Aguayo and Canek won the match. The fourth, and final, match on the undercard was the Royal Rumble match. The match begun with Ahmed Johnson and Crush, where the rivalry with Johnson and Faarooq continued, as Johnson eliminated himself after Faarooq came down the aisle to chase him. Late into the match, Steve Austin, the fifth entrant, was eliminated by Bret Hart, the twenty first entrant, however, no referee was present to make the elimination official, as they were preoccupied with eliminated wrestlers, Mankind and Terry Funk, who began to brawl outside the ring. The final four men came down to be Hart, Vader, "Diesel", and The Undertaker. Undertaker continued his feud with Vader, as both men began to brawl, while on the other hand, Hart and Diesel battled it out. Austin, who had been non-officially eliminated, reentered into the ring to eliminate both Vader and The Undertaker. As Hart eliminated Diesel, Austin (from behind), tossed Hart over the top rope, thus, Austin won the Royal Rumble match. With ten eliminations, Austin tied up with Hulk Hogan for most eliminations in Single Royal Rumble Match with ten. The main event was a WWF Championship match between Shawn Michaels and Sycho Sid. Sid works over on Michaels's back early into the match, however Michaels retaliated by hitting a flying elbow drop on Sid. Michaels then attempts to deliver a Sweet Chin Music to Sid, however, he counters by tossing Michaels over the top rope onto ringside. As Sid threw Michaels back into the ring, Michaels accidentally hit referee Earl Hebner. Sid then delivered a Chokeslam and attempted to pin him, however, as the first referee was down, a second referee came out to count the pin, which got a two count. Sid then attacked the second referee, which allowed Michaels to hit Sid with a camera and delivered Sweet Chin Music, as the original referee slowly counted the successful pinfall, thus Michaels won the WWF Championship. Aftermath Shawn Michaels later vacated the WWF Championship on the Thursday RAW Thursday special. Due to this and the controversial situation over the Royal Rumble ending, Steve Austin, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Vader were pitted against each other at In Your House 13: Final Four in a Four Corners match for the WWF Championship, which saw Hart win the vacant WWF title. The next night on RAW, Austin interfered in a WWF title match between Hart and Sycho Sid. As a results of Austin's interference, Hart lost the belt, which resulted in Hart's short-lived title reign. On the March 17 edition of RAW, Hart and Sid faced off in a Steel Cage match for the WWF title. Sid won after interference by both Stone Cold and Undertaker. At WrestleMania 13, Undertaker defeated Sid for the WWF title, while Hart and Austin battled each other in a Submission match with Ken Shamrock as the special referee. Results Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds. Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart, but snuck back in the ring while officials were distracted by a brawl between Terry Funk and Mankind on the other side of the ring. Faarooq was eliminated when Ahmed Johnson (who had eliminated himself from the Rumble earlier on) came back into the ring with a 2×4 and went after Faarooq, causing him to go over the top rope. Category:1997 in wrestling Category:Royal Rumble Category:Pay-Per-View Events Category:WWE for Extreme